The Date Controversy..

Part 4 of 11

Proponents of Cessationism hold firm for many reasons. One reason is known as the date controversy: this is the idea that supernatural happenings only occurred in the earliest dated books of the New Testament, such as Acts, etc. According to Cessationists, these supernatural works supposedly died out as the years progressed, and are absent from later dated epistles.

A faithful Cessationist will acknowledge that the New Testament church indeed practiced and operated in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but they will say that it was only to seal the church as genuine and God-ordained. However, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (Jn 14:12). Some men, those clinging to cessationism, like to dispensationally limit these “greater works” as occurring only on the subsequent day of Pentecost when three-thousand souls were saved at once. However, should we be limited to a past tense episode and application? If the Lord Jesus did not readily put a conclusive time restriction on these “greater works”, then why should we? If He did not limit these “greater works” to a salvific nature, should we? What right do we have to superimpose our personal judgments on the Holy Bible?

Cessationism claims this date theory because the evidence for such practice and manifestation supposedly occurs only in the earliest books of the New Testament, and older epistles such as Ephesians and Romans do not contain similar events. This, as we will see, is a false supposition. Below, we can see the many various Scriptures that refer to the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit. Scholars are unsure as to the exact dates, but judging by Paul’s various imprisonments and missionary journeys we can get a pretty accurate rendering . Notice these sources are from all different books and epistles, and not only the earliest ones as some would suppose:

- Ephesians - written between 57 and 62 A.D.
4:8 “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”

- Romans - written between 55 and 58 A.D.
12:6 “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith…”

- 1 Corinthians - written between 53 and 57 A.D.
14:1 “Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.”

12:31 “But covet earnestly the best gifts…”

- Galatians - written between 48 and 58 A.D.
3:5 “He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

- Titus - written between 62 and 66 A.D.
1:12 “One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.”

- James - written between 45 and 53 A.D.
5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

- Revelation - written between 90 and 96 A.D.
18:20 “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her [Babylon]".

Thus, we see that the dates of which these gifts are operative are as varied and diverse as the gifts themselves. We cannot imagine, therefore, that the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit were only for the earliest members of the church.

To speak objectively, even if this date controversy were an accurate assumption, we must take into account the purpose of each individual epistle. Of course an epistle such as First Corinthians will have more evidence of spiritual manifestation and ministry. This is simply because certain epistles were written to set forth the role and flow of the New Testament church, and to correct error that was prevalent there. Paul says in First Corinthians 12:1, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant”.

Later epistles were written with the expectation that these elementary principles were already assimilated into the local church life and were understood by the body. Paul had no need to be redundant on such matters. The fact that he doesn’t completely reiterate himself in every subsequent epistle is not evidence that the gifts had ceased to be of use, but rather, this is evidence that the people to whom he wrote prior had followed his instruction and were now operating properly!

Furthermore, proponents of Cessationism will also say the gifts appear to be fading out as the book of Acts chronologically progresses. They use this as further alleged evidence that the Holy Ghost was quietly exiting the scene once the church was officially established. The following evidence clearly debunks this theory as well:

- Tongues are evidenced in Acts 2:1-4, 11; 8:15-18; 10:46; and 19:6

- Prophetic Utterance is evidenced in Acts 2:18; 19:6; and 21:9

- Acts of healing are evidenced in Acts 4:14-16; 8:7; 10:38; 14:9-10; and 28:8-9

- The word of knowledge is evidenced in Acts 5:1-10; and 27:22-25

- The raising of the dead is evidenced in Acts 20:1-11

Thus, we clearly see the chronological progression of gifts and ministries to be abundant throughout the entire book of Acts, not solely occurring at the earlier dates, as Cessationism supposes. To presume the Holy Spirit subtly made an exit as the early days and months advanced is to completely ignore the evidence in Scripture.

To be continued...